ArtfulDodger
Loyal 1919er and owner of the Indigo Hivemind, ArtfulDodger first visited the area in October 2006 in hopes of making contact with the Zurg UFO's. Usually known as Artie, she's taken on a middle-child role in the 19 community, seeing as how there are prominent younger siblings in the group, as well as definite older siblings. Artful is a follower, but she avoids conflict, preferring to keep away from in-group arguments unless directly pulled into them. She spends most of her time roleplaying in 1919 and their other hangouts, but usually just goes along with the group. PreZurg Joined in December of 2003, ArtfulDodger chose her username based on her crush on a character from the novel Oliver Twist. She admits to never having actually read the book, but has watched several movies of it instead. Artful started out with nothing but a peasant dress and booties. But through had work and determination, she was able to save enough for a few items, and gained a Santa Hat during the Christmas event. But it wasn't long before her internet was disconnected, and Artful was forced to take an extended leave of absence. She finally regained internet connection sometime during 2005, and was surprised to see how much it had changed. On top of all the style changes, there were now flash games and features, and gold was easier to gain. She began to slowly acquire items, although her avatar style lacked greatly. She tried a few forum roleplays, having been an avid (though n00bish) roleplayer before her loss of internet, but wasn't able to make any lasting connections with other players. There were a few events during this year, but her first plot involvement wouldn't happen until late 2006. In a state of depression over having lost all connection with her old online friends, she began to seek out a way to immerse herself in the world of Gaia. The Zurg Plotline Artful took the Zurg plot rather seriously, gathering as much information and as many theories on the Zurg as she could. Chosing to stay neutral in her position, she never joined any of the main user-run factions, and instead joined a smaller group called GIT, based on, and much less important than the GIB. Her job was to gather and put plot information out to the public in her thread, as well as to try and make contact with the Zurg UFO's. After receiving word that the UFO's were visiting Towns, Artful began visiting the areas of 1019 and 1919 daily, spending all of her online time on the Zurgs. There were many sightings, and Artful was able to ask a few questions, but little information was gained from the cryptic Zurg. At the time, the avatars in Towns were all shadows, so Artful had little in the way of knowing who was male or female, or what their avatars looked like. Though greatly intimidated by the regulars there, Artful began to socialize with them. A follower at heart, she joined in on their Triangle creations, and even tried to organize a few of them herself. She was determined to help the UFO sightings run as smooth as possible, and even attempted to fill the newbies and n00bs in on proper UFO sighting conduct, as the Towns server was poor and prone to severe lagging. It was during this time that she met someone by the name of CaptainCannoli, a character who at the time she had no clue was actually a character. Now, not only was she determined to gain information on the Zurg, but she was also fastinated by Cannoli and his antics. She joined his Guild, vowed fealty to his causes, and began working for him as a soldier of Justice. Through probing and prodding, Artie slowly learned a great deal about Cannoli, and took him very seriously, spending sleepless nights racking her brain over the strange man. Artie made many more friends in the area, and eventually, she became trusting of the Zurg's intentions. She idolized their messages to the Gaian people, taking to heart their teachings of love and hate, and acceptance. As things died down in the Zurg plot, Artful chose to hang around the area in hope that the Zurg would one day return. After the Zurg While waiting for the Zurg's return, Artful continued her sessions with Cannoli, and began to realize that he was a character, rather than an extremely eccentric person. To stir things up, she made her first mule by the name of CaptainTortellini. The character began as a villian of sorts, but 1919 has a way of corrupting the easily manipulated. Through this new roleplaying, Artie gained many new friends- others that had chosen to stay and wait for the Zurgs. Roleplaying became a daily ritual for her and her new friends. Not only was it a pass-time for the Zurgless days, but it brought a new fullfilment to Artful's life. She had much more in common with her fellow 19ers than she thought, and the connections grew strong both IC and OOC. Having developed a crush on Cannoli, Artie eventually learned about the person behind his character- a boy her age, named Jesse. The two became fast friends. Jesse was the first to admit his affections toward Artie, but she turned him down, due to her already being in a relationship. A while after that ended, Artie wondered if Jesse still liked her, so her very good friend TTT took it upon herself to meddle played matchmaker and forced them to date persuaded Jesse to talk to Artie again about the subject. Artie she was more than happy to become Jesse's girlfriend. Today Artful continues to be an addicted roleplayer, putting her effort into developing her much-loved characters and seeking to find them all a happy ending. Although, she doubts she could ever put an end to their stories. Her characters include Artemis, Tortellini, Poen, Arabella, Schadenfreude, Zoloft, Zofia, Geph, Felix, Landon, Shawna, Mr. Damani, Ling, Jakey, Lucien, and Indigo. She's slowly coming into her skin as a panda furry, and wonders if pandas and lions would make freaky-ass babies. Behind the Avatar In real life, Artful is an 18 year old girl, living in Washington State. Her real name is Shawna, and she's dating fellow 19'er JesseSable as of March 26, 2008. She was forced to drop out of her senior year of High School due to Agoraphobia, and hopes to get her act together and get her GED, as well as her driver's license. In the mean time, she's sitting on her butt at the computer desk, living her life through her characters. Her addictions include Jesse, pandas, music, and RP. She spends almost every second of her day thinking about Jesse, but other offline time is spent listening to music (a basic necessity along with food and water), watching tv, reading, or daydreaming about the RP. She often worries about her future, and feels guilty that the people around her have made efforts to push their lives forward, while she on the other hand, has not. Hurrah, procrastination!